Kay Mills

Kay Mills spent two years visiting Head Start programs across the nation, from a migrant labor camp in rural California to an Indian reservation in Montana, from the racially divided deep South to a center in Minneapolis where parents are also teachers. Her in-depth encounters, especially at the Watts Towers center in South Central Los Angeles, provide an illuminating look at what Head Start has accomplished and what it has yet to achieve.

Here’s what some of its readers said:

“Comprehensive…objective and carefully researched.”—Publishers Weekly

“A wonderful book, rich with history, vitality, and hope. It should be required reading for the President and members of Congress.”—Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace

“This luminous book takes us on a journey across the years and around the country to learn some of the many stories of Head Start. Thanks to the author’s insightful and sensitive rendering of these stories, we see the human faces that make up the Head Start family and rejoice in their accomplishments.”—Edward Zigler, Ph.D., Sterling Professor of Psychology, Yale University

“An exceptionally researched, thought-provoking, head-first dive into the world of Head Start. Shines an inspiring light into the …mind-set of those who strive to elevate the lives of all of America’s children.”—Marc Parent, author of Turning Stones: My Days and Nights with Children at Risk


“Kay Mills’ insights into Head Start deserve a spot in libraries as well as in the minds of people who care about kids. President and Mrs. Johnson made this program possible and loved it very much. It has paid real dividends.”—Liz Carpenter, press secretary to Lady Bird Johnson


“A fascinating look inside the world of Head Start, full of moving and in some cases startling stories. I recommend it highly.”—James A. Levine, Ed.D., Director, The Father Project, Families and Work Institute

“ Gives flesh and blood to the often sterile and lifeless policy debates over funding programs for children. Leaves no doubt that any American committed to the health and welfare of our kids should and must be a Head Start supporter.”—George Wood, Ph.D., author of Schools That Work and A Time to Learn


“This wonderful exploration of Head Start is must reading for people who care about America’s children.”—Marian Wright Edelman, President, Children’s Defense Fund